Eleanor fumed. “You’ve ordered gentlemen to dance with me?”
“Don’t be silly. I can’t order anybody to do anything, Eleanor. No, I’ve simply let them know that I’m searching for a husband for you. Plenty of gentlemen are interested, but, quite reasonably, they would like to spend a bit of time with you first to see if you’re to their liking or not. I expect you to be charming and agreeable so that theywillfind they like you. Is that going to be too difficult for you?”
“It may be,” Eleanor said hotly. “I can’t force anyone to like me.”
“If you don’t think you can behave yourself well enough to convince a gentleman that you’re worthy of his company, even for the length of one song, perhaps you don’t need to attend this affair.”
“Father, no,” Marina cut in. “Eleanor must be at my wedding. It will be ruined if she isn’t there. I know you find all this frustrating, but please—don’t stop her from attending.”
“It’s all right, Marina,” Eleanor said quickly, hating to see her sister distressed. Marina’s unhappiness was always the one thing that could put a stop to her desire to argue with her parents, to push back against their stringent rules for her. “I’ll behave myself. I’ll give Father no reason to prohibit me from attending the wedding. I wouldn’t want to miss such an important day in your life.”
“It will be an important day in your life as well, Eleanor,” her father told her. “By the time the wedding is over, I will have made my choice. I’ll know who I wish to have you marry.”
“You can’t say that,” Eleanor protested. “You don’t know who we’ll meet there. What if the right gentleman doesn’t present himself?”
“Nobody in the world is as particular as you are,” her father informed her. “Any gentleman would be suitable. It’s not a matter of finding someone who will do. There are plenty who meet my standards. It’s simply a matter of choosing the best one of the available options, and I’ll be more than able to do that on the night of Marina’s wedding. I’ve put off making this decision because I thought it sensible to get Marina married first, since she’s the eldest, but once her marriage is settled there will be no more reason to wait around when it comes to you. I’ll want it taken care of as quickly as possible, and that’s what I mean to do.”
“So you’re telling me that you’ll give me a name the morning after Marina’s wedding, and that will be the person I’m to marry?”
“That’s right,” Eleanor’s father said. “There’s no reason to prolong this any further than that.”
Eleanor didn’t dare argue. Her father had already threatened to keep her home from the wedding, and it was a threat she knew he would have no qualms about following through on. But inwardly, she was fuming. She couldn’t believe it. She’d always known that he prioritized seeing her married above her happiness and comfort, but to hear him come right out and say that it didn’t matter which gentleman she married, that anyone would do—that galled her. She knew he hadsomestandards,of course, but they were much less exacting than she had ever imagined they might be. She had always assumed that he would hold out for someone highly qualified, even if his qualifications weren’t the same as hers, but now it seemed that what mattered most of all to him was simply seeing the deed done, no matter who the gentleman might be. She wondered how low on the societal ladder he would go to find her a match, and how many defects of character he would be willing to put up with for her.
“May I be excused?” she asked, no longer wanting to sit at the table with her family members.
“You’ve only just arrived,” her father pointed out. “You should have the courtesy to stay and eat breakfast.”
“Let her go, if she wants to,” Eleanor’s mother said. “It’s clear that she woke up in an argumentative mood.”
“It’s not as if that isn’t the same mood she’s always in,” her father groused. “Very well, Eleanor, be off with you then. But for goodness’ sake, stay in the house. We don’t need you gettinganotherscar. It will be difficult enough to find you a husband who doesn’t object to that first one.” He glowered at her hand as if it had done something to personally offend him.
Eleanor rose to her feet. Her scar had been obtained many years ago, a fluke accident while playing by the river one day. She would have expected that anyone, evenherparents, would have forgotten all about it by now. She was careful to keep her hand tucked in her lap most of the time around them in order to avoid their critical comments, but sometimes it couldn’t be avoided.She did have to use her hands sometimes. And while they always made her wear gloves in public, no one had ever ordered her to wear them around the house. Eleanor hated her gloves and would never voluntarily wear them, so until she was forced, she kept her hands exposed. Her parents, she thought, would have to find a way to cope with the fact that their daughter had a scar on her hand. It really wasn’t such a terrible thing—at least, it didn’t have to be. But they’d never been able to accept it. It seemed to her that they never would.
She left the dining room and went upstairs, knowing that she would have to sneak into the kitchen later in order to get food. Her parents wouldn’t allow it to be brought to her room. They would say it was her own fault she had missed breakfast.
At least there was one good thing about being forced to marry, she reflected. It would get her out of this house—and out from under her parents’ control for the first time in her life.
After breakfast was over, Eleanor and Marina were permitted to go into town, accompanied by their ladies’ maids, to select flowers for the party that would be thrown in honor of Marina’s wedding.
“I don’t know why you insist on arguing with Mother and Father all the time,” Marina said mildly as they walked up the street.
“How could I not argue with them?” Eleanor countered. “You see how they are, Marina. All they want is to force me intoa marriage, and there’s no consideration for how I might feel about such a thing. They have no interest in my happiness.”
“Of course they want you to be happy,” Marina said. “That’s why they want you to marry, Eleanor, do you not see that? They know that the best way for you to achieve a happy life is by making a good marriage.”
Eleanor had to laugh. “That isn’t why they want me to marry,” she said. “For them, it’s all about appearances. They don’t want to have a daughter they have to be ashamed of. They want two daughters like you—daughters they can point to and saywhat lovely marriages our daughters have made, what distinguished husbands they have!”
“And is that so wrong?” Marina asked. “They want to be proud of you, Eleanor. Don’t you want them to?”
“Of course I do,” Eleanor said. “I want them to be proud of me for who I am and for the things I do of my own accord. I don’t want them to force me to live a life I don’t want so that I can earn their regard. It’s all right for you. You truly care for the man you’re going to marry. How would you feel if he was someone you didn’t care about and hardly knew at all?”
Marina looked upset. Eleanor felt badly about what she’d said. Her sister had done nothing wrong. She just wanted to marry the man she loved. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Why don’t we go into the flower shop? It’s just up there.”
As she pointed, a gust of wind lifted her hat from her head, since she could rarely be bothered to remember to tie the ribbons. She spun around and chased after it, feeling alarmed and anxious—this was one of her best hats, and she knew that her parents would be upset with her if she were to return home without it. They so rarely gave her fine things anyway, unless they were doing so for the occasion of a social event when they wanted her to catch the attention of a gentleman. She’d been lucky to receive a hat she had simply wanted, for no other reason than that she wished to have it. She couldn’t lose it!
Her hat blew right into the hands of a gentleman. He caught it and looked up at her.
She hurried over and held out a hand. “Thank you,” she said, anticipating that he would give the hat right back to her and let her be on her way.
